How to End an E-mail to a Prospective Client

An e-mail to potential business contacts looks best when written in business style. What about the closing? Sincerely seems “too” traditional to me. What’s an appropriate way to end an email gig inquiry?

Nan

Dear Nan,

If I’m sending an e-mail to someone I’ve never corresponded with before, I like to use “Sincerely” to close the message. I’ve seen people use “Regards” or “Warmest regards” as well.

When I used to work for lawyers (and that was several years ago), “Yours very truly” was used to end a letter. This seems a bit too “Old School” for e-mail, which tends to be a bit more casual way to communicate than sending a letter on paper.

Unfortunately, you don’t always know who is going to end up reading your e-mail when you press “Send.” Many of my clients happen to be younger than me and they seem to be a bit more casual in their e-mail writing style. I think you can start off a bit more formally, just as you would when choosing a salutation for your e-mail to a client, and then change to a bit more casual closing once you have established a relationship with that person.

I like to use “Warmly” to sign off on my e-mails to people I have been in contact with before. I even use it with friends – I sometimes get a little distracted when I’m online and I can picture myself signing off an e-mail by typing, “Love” and then realizing after I pressed Send that it’s going to a client. (While I do hold everyone I work with in high regard, it’s probably not appropriate to express it in that way.)

Which closing phrases have you seen, and do you have a personal preference?

I have used “All the best…” most often for the past few years. I just find it’s friendly and professional, but is also almost a slogan, commitment, or promise of things to come. I agree with Adrienne that “Best,” works well, but I just like the extra “All” in there too!

I have also used “Here to help…” and even just “Thanks…” at times, depending upon the nature of the letter and the recipient. My philosophy is always to keep things friendly and informal, even for relatively formal settings. I find it keeps everything to follow on a happier note. I hope that that helps!

I generally use “Thanks” or a dry “Thank you”, because I feel it’s more polite, since that person has taken time to get that far down the email, so obviously has read it. When it’s more of a personal or casual email, I’ll add an exclamation mark (as in “Thanks!”). However, I don’t believe an exclamation mark belongs anywhere in an email or letter to potential client or employee.

I like “thanks,” quite frequently, but sometimes I just use my name and standard sig.
I HAVE accidentally signed business emails “love.” Fortunately, they were clients I worked with for years and I’m sure they got a laugh.